Lower Merion police rallied around Detective Dan Gilbert and donated 800 hours so he could spend more time with his family after his wife, Lauren, was diagnosed with terminal cancer, write Joe Holden and Tom Gardiner for CBS News.
“They took a 12-inch section of her colon, took out a very large tumor, and took out some other cancer that had spread,” said Gilbert. “It’s not good. It’s terminal.”
Gilbert has served as a Lower Merion Township detective for nine years. He and his wife have two children, ages 4 and 5. When his coworkers learned of the diagnosis, they wanted to help him spend as much time with her as possible. Each officer was allowed to donate up to 12 hours.
“We quickly put a process together, and it’s great that it has worked out to help Dan,” said Ernie McNeely, Lower Merion Township’s manager. “It’s so critical to do something when folks are in need, and that’s what we were happy to be able to do here.”
The department’s generosity gave Gilbert and his family five months of uninterrupted time together.
“My colleagues are the best,” he said.
Read more about Dan Gilbert and the efforts of his police department at CBS News.
